UK cinema releases 2nd March

Welcome back to the weekly roundup of films released this week in UK cinemas. We have an erotic spy thriller, a film tipped for best foreign film, an awesome comedy and a family-friendly animation released on Friday 2nd March. So, if are you thinking of heading to the cinema this weekend and need to know what to look out for with the new releases, let me help you out with that one.

Red Sparrow

Synopsis

Prima ballerina Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) faces a bleak and uncertain future after she suffers an injury that ends her career. She soon turns to Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people to use their minds and bodies as weapons

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Jeremy Irons, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling

Analysis

Based on the novel by (Jason Matthews) this modern twist on the spy genre, shows us the dirty, troubling world that could be still present in our world. Luckily the film has been released at a good time as it pokes and probes at the American and Russian tensions so it could get the added boost that I think it will need.

I spoke a while ago about dreading this film because of the backlash that it could potentially have on Jennifer Lawrence as it needed to perform well box office wise otherwise those sharks would come circling as they always do to an actress.

Sadly the writing and direction appear to have made the film more workmanlike than standout despite the efforts from the cast to excel the writing. Which is probably why it is in this March slot and not in an Oscar slot. The film is currently sitting at 60% on Rotton Tomatoes and 5.5 on IMDB, which isn’t a bad slot from critics, the audience reports should hopefully boost the film, though it has had limited marketing here in the UK which is a shame as I feel it would have performed well here.

My first thoughts when I heard about the film was that it was an adult version of ‘ALLIED’ that came out in 2016, I expect the film to perform better than that, but I expect the European Box Office to beat the North American as Allied just about did. It will be interesting to see how the box office performs as it is only a 15 here, which is surprising as I thought it would have been a nailed on 18 from the reports of violence and eroticism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJHex4ZitgA

A Fantastic Woman

Synopsis

Marina and Orlando are in love and planning for the future. Marina is a young waitress and aspiring singer. Orlando is 20 years older than her and owns a printing company. After celebrating Marina’s birthday one evening, Orlando falls seriously ill. Marina rushes him to the emergency room, but he passes away just after arriving at the hospital. Instead of being able to mourn her lover, suddenly Marina is treated with suspicion. The doctors and Orlando’s family don’t trust her.

Starring: Daniela Vega, Francisco Reyes, Sebastian Stan

Analysis

Nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Oscar’s there is a lot of confident buzz about the film. To the point were the BFI have even thrown some extra funding to have the film dubbed to help boost its reach to the public (which is disappointing as a film should always be played in it’s original).

What I liked about the film is that instead of the main character struggling to find themselves as a transgender person. We have a fully evolved confident person, but it is the people around her that cannot cope with this new world they are brought to. Watching other people try and fail to understand, progress and accept Marina for who she is and instead try to project what they see.

This film should win all the awards it goes for, it is a fantastic film centred (literally in most shots) my a fantastic character. If you know a place that is showing this, go and watch it. It is a must watch.

Game Night

Synopsis

Bateman and McAdams star as Max and Annie, whose weekly couples game night gets kicked up a notch when Max’s charismatic brother, Brooks (Chandler), arranges a murder mystery party, complete with fake thugs and faux federal agents. So when Brooks gets kidnapped, it’s all part of the game–right? But as the six uber-competitive gamers set out to solve the case and win, they begin to discover that neither this game–nor Brooks–are what they seem to be.

Starring: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler, Jesse Plemons, Billy Magnussen

Analysis

From reviews I have seen, the only fault that this film has had is from its marketing. If you have only seen a little tv spot here or there on the internet or on TV you will know what I mean. This film looks funny, the critics and audience scores are already high for a comedy. I feel Game Night could have been a big hit, Hangover level hit as it has the plot line to easily become a franchise for a few films. The franchise will still come, but boy did they miss out on making this a massive hit in a lean landscape for comedies at the minute. Check it out and enjoy the laughs that you will get!

Monster Family

Synopsis

In an attempt to reconnect as a family Mum, Emma plans a fun night out. However, her plan backfires when an evil witch curses them and they’re all turned into Monsters.

Starring: Emily Watson, Jason Isaacs, Nick Frost, Jessica Brown Findlay, Celia Imrie and Catherine Tate

Analysis

With a lot of the adult content out this week, it is good to see something family friendly in the cinema, though I imagine a lot of the audience will still be going to Black Panther, but hopefully not. Smaller animations need some love and hopefully, this will.

Next week we have Mom & Dad, My Generation and You Were Never Really Here. So, see you next time for more movie chatter!

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